The Election Commission has decided to cancel the May 25 Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll, citing poor law and order situation and lack of adequate central forces.

The Election Commission has decided to cancel the May 25 Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll, citing poor law and order situation and lack of adequate central forces. The EC took the decision on a day when Pakistani Army mutilated bodies of two Indian soldiers in Krishna Ghati sector of Kashmir on Monday. In another incident on the day, Pakistani terrorists had killed seven people, including five Jammu and Kashmir police personnel, in a bid to look the cash van of a bank.

Earlier, the poll panel had planned to hold the Anantnag bypoll on April 12 but postponed it to May 25, citing similar problems in the Kashmir Valley. In its order on Monday, the EC said: “…in view of the prevailing ground situation and non-availability of sufficient security forces, the Commission is of the considered view that peaceful, free and fair poll is not feasible on May 25, as scheduled, though some political parties have asked for the same.”

The EC decision, however, irked former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister M Omar Abdullah, who has been blaming current CM Mehbooba Mufti’s policies for the current turmoil in Kashmir. In a series of posts on Twitter today, Abdullah strongly attacked Mufti government in the state and claimed that the latter’s “five percent” of supporters have brought the governments in Delhi and Srinagar to their knees.

“This is your legacy @MehboobaMufti. Your “5% of the people” have brought J&K back to the early 90’s yet shamelessly you cling on to power! It’s depressing to see how far we have regressed in Kashmir from the highs of the Assembly polls of 2014 to the canceled election of 2017. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the symbolic victory of the “5%” who brought the might of the Govt in Srinagar/Delhi to its knees.

“In many ways this is similar to the symbolic victory against India scored by the release of militants for @MehboobaMufti’s sister in 1990.
The only things keeping @MehboobaMufti in office are her shamelessness & a misplaced sense of pride in Delhi preventing admission of mistake,” Omar tweeted.

This is your legacy @MehboobaMufti. Your “5% of the people” have brought J&K back to the early 90’s yet shamelessly you cling on to power! http://t.co/KkBmE5wAKI

The bypoll in Anantnag was necessitated following the resignation of Mehbooba Mufti in July last when she became Jammu and Kashmir CM. According to PTI, the state government was of the view that if bypoll is held in May, it would affect anti-terror operations which are necessary for the return of normalcy.